The consumer technology sector includes many of the most globally successful companies. So it’s no surprise that the top four companies are also in the top 25 list: Adobe, Microsoft, Samsung and Nikon.

Adobe emerged on top even though it is not the language leader; Microsoft leads with 43 languages.

But Adobe leads in global navigation and consistency. Shown below is the Japanese home page, which shares the same global template with most other country websites:

In the footer is the global gateway link, as indicated by the map icon. I recommend upgrading this icon into the header to improve findability. I also recommend using a generic globe icon.

Clicking on the map icon brings up an effective global gateway menu overlay. Notice how the country/region names are in the local languages. I call this a “universal” global gateway because it can be used across all localized websites (instead of supporting a separate menu for each local website):

Adobe also makes good use of geolocation to help determine which localized website users prefer. For example, if a user in Ecuador inputs Adobe.com, he or she is taken to the .com English-language website but presented with this overlay that lets the user know there is also a Spanish-language site available.

This way, users remain in control but also made aware of localized websites. To learn more about geolocation strategies, check out Geolocation for Global Success.

Adobe also one of a growing number of companies that make use of user-facing machine translation to allows users to self-translate content. Here is a screen shot from the user forums. While the execution could be more user friendly, the feature itself is something more companies should be supporting (and many are currently testing):

On a separate note, I wanted to highlight the mobile home page for Nikon.

Notice the globe icon in the header. Nikon is one of the few consumer tech websites to include a global gateway link in the header of its mobile website.

For the past 12 years, the Web Globalization Report Card has closely tracked the languages supported by the leading global websites, including companies such as Apple, IBM, 3M, GE, Microsoft, and Google.

This year, the average number of languages supported by these websites surpassed 30 languages, up from 14 languages in 2006.

If you want to reach 95% of the world’s 3.3 billion Internet users your website needs to support roughly 45 languages.

Here are the language totals from a number of non-tech websites (US English excluded):

Website & Languages

VOA News: 47

Coca-Cola: 44

Honda: 44

Nissan: 44

DHL 43

NIVEA: 43

Avon: 42

American Express: 41

BMW: 41

Have you conducted a competitive language audit recently? You might be surprised by what you find.

What I’m finding is that regardless of industry sector, companies are adding languages. Growth might just be a language or two a year, but it is happening. And, unless you’re keeping a close eye on languages, you can overlook it.

Languages represent growth. If your goal is to succeed globally, you’re going to be investing in languages — lots of them!

About the Web Globalization Report Card
For 2016, Byte Level Research studied 150 global websites across 15 industry sectors, including more than 80% of the Interbrand Best Global Brands.
Websites were graded according to the number of languages supported, global navigation, global and mobile website architecture, and localization. The top 25 websites overall include companies such as Google, Starbucks, Hotels.com, and Facebook. Link

It’s hard to believe that this is the twelfth edition of the Report Card. Over the past decade I’ve seen the average number of languages supported by global brands increase from just 10 languages to 30 languages today.

But it’s not just languages that make a website succeed globally. Companies need to support fast-loading mobile websites, locally relevant content, and user-friendly navigation.

Notable highlights among the top 25:

Wikipedia is far and away the language leader, with content in more than 270 languages. The company also now supports a mobile-friendly layout that is considerably lighter (in kilobytes) than most Fortune 100 mobile websites.

NIVEA provides an excellent example of a company that localizes its models for local websites — one of the few companies to do so.

Nike made this top 25 list for the first time, having added languages and improved global consistency and navigation.

As a group, the top 25 websites support an average of 52 languages.

For 2016, we studied 150 websites across 15 industry categories — and more than 80% of the Interbrand Best Global Brands. Websites were graded according to languages supported, global navigation, global and mobile website architecture, and localization.